There are sinister implications in the fact that various provisions of the so-called Patriot II Act are being surreptitiously slipped into other legislation. Attorney General John Ashcroft has admitted as much, saying that it will be used to expand law enforcement powers “upon the passage of all provisions of Patriot II.” This would lead one to believe that they’re going to try to break it up and slip it in. Otherwise he would have said, “upon the passage of the act,” not “all provisions.” That gives you some clue as to what the Bushonian strategy is with the bill.

Ashcroft then went on to say that he would sign a so-called ‘Blanket Letter of National Security Findings,’ which would make the issuance of secret arrest warrants possible and eliminate the need for law enforcement to request individual letters from the Department of Justice or relevant agencies regarding actions against groups or individuals. There are currently six bills pending in Congress that would take provisions from Patriot Act II -- HR-3179, the Anti-Terrorism Intelligence Tools Improvement Act of 2003; HR-3037, Anti-Terrorism Tools Enhancement Act of 2003; HR2934 and S1604, Terrorist Penalties Enhancement Act of 2003; HR3040 and S1606, Pre-trial
Detention and Lifetime Supervision of Terrorists Act of 2003.